Citizenship Bill: Cong asks for special session of Assam Assembly

Opposition Congress legislators today urged Assam Assembly Speaker H N Goswami to immediately convene a special session of the House to debate the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

A seven-member delegation of the Assam Congress Legislature Party (CLP), led by Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia, called on the speaker and also demanded the adoption of a resolution, if required, to safeguard the provisions of the Assam Accord, 1985.

Saikia told Goswami that he had been asking for a special session of the Assembly to discuss the issue, but to no avail.

Though the bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 15, 2016, seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslims who have fled persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, indigenous groups in Assam view it as a move to legitimise the Hindus who have migrated from Bangladesh after 1971.

Saikia also handed over to the speaker a copy of a memorandum submitted to him jointly by the "Forum Against Citizenship Act Amendment Bill" and the "Left-Democratic Manch, Assam", which requested the opposition leader to take the initiative to ensure that a special session of the House was held to discuss the important issue.

He claimed that the people of Assam were disillusioned and angry because they had realised that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was a ploy by the government to nullify the Assam Accord.

"It is the speaker's duty to appreciate the gravity of the issue and immediately convene a special session of the House so that the representatives of the people of Assam could protect the state's interests," Saikia said in a release.

The speaker assured the delegation that he would consider the matter, the Congress leader added.